


Common Points of Reference

by Merfilly



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Jingle Bells Batman Smells Challenge, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Jason is interested in Roy, shortly after they get Lian</p>
            </blockquote>





	Common Points of Reference

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dixid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixid/gifts).



Jason dropped down on the couch where Roy was holding and feeding Lian. He grinned a little at the image. Roy Harper could be one of the most bad-ass heroes in the field, and had proven to handle government work well too, but the little baby girl he was holding broke all that macho stuff to bits.

Things had certainly be different since Roy found out he had a daughter. There had been a long moment when Jay hadn't been certain what Roy was going to do when Cheshire had revealed Lian to him. Jason would have backed him no matter what; it was what Titans did, a rule that had drummed into his head the minute he decided to go off with the team while 'Big Brother' found himself, whatever that meant.

Roy had put one hand out toward Cheshire before she could leave them, and a very tense but brief conversation had taken place. Jason still counted the look on Roy's face, walking out of there carrying a baby, as one of his favorite moments on the team.

"Her hair's darkening," Jason commented, reaching out to touch the soft hair. Roy smiled a little, nodding as he kept his eyes on the girl's face, all her attention on the spoon he kept bringing up to her mouth with apple sauce on it. She had fallen in love with the stuff, and Roy generally finished meals in the high chair with her in his lap to feed it to her.

"Guess it was bound to happen. After all, red hair isn't that common in Vietnamese women, and black usually wins out," Roy answered him. "She's been so good about it all, changing her life around like this." The older hero sighed softly. "Cheshire's gone to ground at least. I don't know..."

"Don't know what?"

"What will happen if I wind up opposite her now."

Jason looked very thoughtful for a long moment, before shrugging. "What's right. You've got to live up to this little girl's expectations of you, and if Chesh is up against you, she's not holding them up on her end, man."

Roy looked over at the Boy Wonder, then nodded slowly. "You've got a point. I guess the Bat hasn't corrupted you to stony silences yet," he said with a hint of a laugh.

Jason did laugh. "Let the Big Bad Bat spend his time being gloomy and hard to read all he wants! It's not my style, and never will be."

Roy had to laugh at then, and Lian paused to look up at him before breaking into one of her patented 'melt-your-heart' smiles that turned Roy (and Jason, if he admitted it) to goo.

"Finished, baby girl?" Roy asked her in a soft tone that Jason had dubbed 'the daddy voice'.

She gave a fierce shake of her head, reaching for the spoon. He smiled at that, and gave her another bite of the apple sauce. 

"Knows what she wants," Jason said. "I'll be sure to make sure to threaten off the boys so she never gets a chance to use that trick to get past you with dating."

"I'll get Donna to take her to Paradise Island for most of the teen years," Roy said, joking, at least mostly, about it. 

Jason lounged back on the couch, nodding. "I'm sure she would. Much as she's going to be around Lian, she'll probably look at her like a little sister."

"One thing about growing up around the Titans, she won't ever lack for family around her," Roy said in a soft, rueful tone, his eyes going distant.

That made Jason lean up and smack the back of his head. "Hey! None of that, now. We both made it out of our hells alive, and we've got all this and the future to look forward to! Got it?"

"Ow..." Roy reached up and theatrically rubbed at his skull. "Now I almost wish you were the Bat Junior," he mocked. "He at least keeps his hands to himself."

"Yeah, whatever," Jason scoffed. "You know I'm right." Jason pointed to the little girl he held. "Look at her, man, and then try to mope."

Roy took a deep breath, then looked back at Jason after doing just what he'd been told to do. "That's just it, Jason. What if... well, my life? Look at what I do. What if one day, I go to put something out, somewhere, and leave her like... like I was left behind? Or, how do I know I won't just fail to get what she needs, and it blows up huge?"

Jason shook his head fiercely. "I don't have answers for you, but guess what? Nobody else does, either. Parents don't get guarantees. They don't get warranties. Neither do the kids. And there sure as hell isn't a manual on the whole being a dad thing. So take a chill pill and just...do it."

"Do! Do do do!" Lian interrupted the seriousness with perfect timing, and both heroes had to laugh at the sudden flailing of arms that went with the repeated word. Roy got spattered with apple sauce, which Lian thought was funny enough to join in the laughter for, prompting Jason to reach for the soft cloth and move to help get them both cleaned up.

"Nah, she's going to need a bath anyway," Roy said, to wave him off, smiling still.

"Yeah, but it'll dry while the water's running," Jason argued. "Trust me; I've seen grimy kids enough to not want our Lian to be one."

Roy met Jason's eyes on that, and then told himself sternly that the 'our' was Titans in general. While he and the newer Boy Wonder had slipped into something beyond friendship, it was still too new to get his heart set on a future.

Jason just pretended he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary, and took the giggling little girl so her daddy could get up and go start a bath. Once Roy was out of the room, Jason looked at the bright, smiling girl...and vowed to make sure she never had anything in common with his or Roy's pasts, ever.

Keeping that promise was going to mean sticking close to the archer, and Jason was just fine with that idea.


End file.
